Call it a battle of the buckets: Two popular chains are offering spooky Halloween buckets for 2024, and both have hit stores and restaurants for a limited time.
Here's what to know about each, and how to snag them before they're gone for the season.
McDonald's Boo Buckets
Tuesday, McDonald's iconic "Boo Buckets" returned to stores across the nation. According to the Chicago-based chain, the typically nostalgic buckets are in four new "Monster" designs for 2024 as part of a "refresh."
The buckets come in white, orange, green and a "brand-new color, blue," McDonald's said. They also come with themed stickers for a "truly monstrous makeover."
First introduced in 1986, the trick-or-treat pails, known as "Boo Buckets," were a Happy Meal staple of the spooky season for several years before they "vanished for a while." Following a prolonged absence, three iconic, throwback buckets returned for 2022 on Oct. 18.
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They also returned in 2023, with the same vintage designs -- Monster, Skeleton, Mummy -- plus a purple Vampire bucket, a nod to the "OG purple Boo Bucket."
Rumors of new 2024 designs began to swirl last month, leaving some on social media to yearn for the retro ones.
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"I think you all misunderstood why we liked the boo buckets thing," one commenter wrote on a September Instagram post that leaked the design. "We like the nostalgia."
After the new ones were announced, dozens of comments took to McDonald's Instagram page to echo the sentiment.
"Please stop changing the look and bring back the old school ones in the 90s," one comment said.
Other commenters appeared to just be glad the Boo Buckets were making a return.
"BEEN WAITING," one comment read, with another saying "They're sooo cute."
According to McDonald's officials, the Boo Buckets are available with Happy Meals while supplies last.
Dunkin' Donuts Halloween Munchkins Bucket
Dunkin's Halloween menu hit shops Wednesday, with everything from food and drinks to Halloween decorations, costumes -- and a spooky bucket.
The new line-up of treats includes a "Potion Macchiato" with purple marshmallow ube flavor, a revamped "Spider Specialty Donut" -- a purple frosted donut topped with a glazed chocolate donut hole, complete with "chocolate drizzle for spider legs and white drizzle forming the eyes," a release said.
The chain will also sell an inflatable version of the Spider Donut as a Halloween yard decoration, DunKing Tracksuits as costumes, and Halloween-themed Munchkins Bucket.
The purple bucket, Dunkin' said, can be filled with a 50-count assortment of Dunkin's popular Munchkins Donut Hole treats.
